Just wanted to write a quick note after a great wild camping and navigating weekend. I learnt a lot and without doubt feel a lot more confident in the use of a compass. This was in part due to the immersive experience of learning over two days, staying out in the hill and your teaching skill and patience. It has given me a very solid foundation upon which to build. I would happily recommend you to others. Thank you very much.

John - UK

I would just like to say "thank you so much" for providing such a memorable and informative experience and for ensuring the trip was hassle free and enjoyable for each and every one of us. I especially liked how you made a point of chatting with everybody individually at some point en route as a way of getting to know us on a personal level. You do your job well, you are a born leader, and I have no doubt as to how successful you will be with your future endeavours. I was particularly impressed by your stamped self addressed postcard given to everyone at dinner in RHB. It is a wonderful and touching gesture offered to the entire group and really topped off what was an amazing and extremely satisfying adventure for me.

Kitty - Australia

The following stand out for me.Your knowledge and experience of the outdoors. This gave us confidence in your abilities to get us there. You took the time to walk along with all of us at different time and imparted this knowledge – names of the mountains (Bens?) that we were passing and it often transpired you had climbed them! And plants such as wild sorrel growing on the rocks we were passing.Your ability to keep the group together. Although we all had a love if walking, we were a diverse bunch of people with different backgrounds and experiences but with your leadership and guidance, we got to know each other and enjoyed each others company and were supportive of each other. You managed this with techniques such as the ‘meet and greet’ at the start of the walk when we shared our own story; eating together each night of the walk; spending time with each of us during the walk and getting to know us better.Your respect of us. This gave us the freedom to walk at our own speed whilst being mindful of the rest of the group. When certain health issues arose you gave us the space to make a decision regarding what we should do.

Lynette -Australia

Your company, guidance, knowledge and patience was to be admired. As my main pursuit in Cyprus is the great outdoors, and having been being involved for 10 years in the organisation of an active vibrant walking group, I know the importance of quality walk leading. You certainly ticked all the boxes for your relaxed style but clear accepted concern and responsibility for your followers. Many thanks for making the trip so enjoyable.

Ian - Cyprus

We enjoyed your confident, friendly and relaxed style of guiding. We felt secure in the knowledge that you had a wealth of tracking, climbing and first hand experience.

Klara and Bram - Australia

Pete you were an astonishing leader, full of good cheer and encouragement and support. I felt really safe in your hands which is key to me. A huge thank you for giving us such a great holiday. You are a great and gifted leader - and I would be really happy to go on another of your walks.

Nice weekend wild camping course. On Saturday we looked at navigating with good linear features like paths, walls and streams. We got the stoves out at lunch for a brew. Then in the afternoon we practiced some micro navigation using compass bearings and pacing. We selected a spot to camp with a tremendous view Pavey Ark and Harrison Stickle. A heavy rain shower put us off a night walk, so we turned in early. Overnight there was more rain, hail and even snow but we were cosy and warm in our tents.

On Sunday we looked at timing to judge distance using Naismith's rule and headed up High Raise in mist. From there we crossed rougher terrain to Stake Pass and then to Angle Tarn. We refueled with lunch and another brew before following the valley back to the pub and a well earned half pint.

Just wanted to write a quick note after a great wild camping and navigating weekend. I learnt a lot and without doubt feel a lot more confident in the use of a compass. This was in part due to the immersive experience of learning over two days, staying out in the hill and your teaching skill and patience. It has given me a very solid foundation upon which to build. I would happily recommend you to others.

Wainwright packs a lot into the last day of the walk. In doing so, we weave about a bit. When you look at a map you can see that if you flew, as the crow flies, due east from Grosmont, you'll hit Robin Hood's Bay in just under eight miles. But we're walking 15.

At least we start off east. After watching the steamer steam off, we puff our own way steeply up out of the village. This takes us onto moorland which we follow, passing some standing stones, until starting to drop again. We cross a road and follow a track down to Littlebeck. Across the stream, through a little gate and then we're into a great little woodland path. The wood is packed with interesting things, such as a cave, a hermitage carved into the sandstone, and Falling Foss - a nice shampoo-advert type waterfall. Next to the splashy water is a cafe so we can get a quick cream tea in.

Once out of the wood heading south we turn and head north across one more moor. Once we reach Hawsker it's time to head south again along the dramatic coastal path. A one-hundred-and-sixty-five year-old dinosaur backbone was found jutting out of the sandstone here in June 2015.

Finally, as you walk along the cliff, you get a view of Robin Hood's Bay. It's a picturesque little place. In an old ballad Robin Hood is getting a bit bored of the woods and decides to become a fisherman.

"The fisher-man more mony hathThen any marchant two or three;Therefore I will to Scarburough goAnd there a fisher-man will bee."

When he gets there they end up having a fight with some French pirates. There's an action scene with lots of bow and arrow stuff and the fishermen win thanks to Robin. He donates his share of the spoils to the locals and they call their village after him.

"And if it chance to bee my lott,That I shall gett but well to land,Ile therefore build a chappell good,And it shall stand on Whitby strand.

"And there Ile keep a preist to singThe masse untill the day I dye.If Robin Hood com once on shore,Hee com no more upon the see."

It makes for a fitting location to finish a walk across the country. So we walk down to the slipway, dip our boot in the sea, skim our pebbles from St Bees into the North Sea and then go for our well earned pint in the Bay Hotel.

I offer guided walks and walking holidays in Northumberland, the Pennines, the Lake District, Scotland and further afield.

I'm always keen for outdoor adventures to help people learn the skills to explore! My particular focus is mountain skills such as navigating with a map and compass and wild camping for expeditions.

One way of not getting lost would be to do a guided walk. Then someone like me would look after you, lead the way, point out things of interest and you can just relax and enjoy your walk. If you prefer to go it alone here's a few tips on guidebooks, maps and some spots to watch out.GuidebooksWainwright's Guide
Alfred Wainwright's masterpiece is a carefully planned walk and his usual painstakingly detailed and
quirky guidebook. The problem with the guidebook is that, for all it's charm and beauty, it's not much good to navigate by. That said, the mile markers given on the maps are useful for gauging your progress. Worth getting a copy for nostalgia, nice pictures and to get into the head of the man behind the walk.

Trailblazer Guide
The trailblazer guidebook is incredibly useful. They have hand drawn maps at a scale of 1:20,000 that show exact details of the route. The maps are also pretty useful for estimating timings. There are also up to date details of accommodation options, food options and public transport arrangements.

Others
There are other guidebooks available and some of them are better for chat and historical information. From the perspective of navigation they are not as useful as the mapping tends to be too large a scale (1:50,000 in the Cicerone guide for example) to be much use on this walk, and following a written description of the route is less helpful.

Maps

Harvey
Harvey maps have pulled off a neat feat by designing maps specifically for walkers. The C. to C. maps are split in to "east" and "west" sections so you'll end up not getting much change from £30. The map punches above it's scale, 1:40,000, and the cartography is simplified to be clearer and of more use to walkers. Each section of the walk is split into panels so the whole walk is condensed into two lightweight maps. The maps are also waterproof apparently.

A to Z
A number of year's ago the Ordnance Survey let other people buy the rights to their maps to create unique products. A to Z have been particularly ingenious in creating OS atlas books for interesting places in their "adventure" range. A book is actually a handy form for walking a long distance route and having 1:25,000 OS maps is fantastic. If it's raining it fits neatly into a map case. My only gripe is that the book is a bit flimsy and mine is starting to fall to bits after two C. to C.s. But then it was only about £8. You'd need about eighty quid's worth of Explorer maps (and the added volume) to equate. With a bit of sticky back plastic this flaw can be rectified. I've also added approximate timings and mile marks to mine to make it all I need to follow the route precisely.

Common spots to go wrong...
Because of the way it was conceived, the C. to C. is not an official long distance trail. As such the signage is inconsistent, poor, or (as in the Lakes) non-existent. Here's a few places people often walk off in the wrong direction.

A great day with a group from the Northumberland Mountaineering Club. A lovely cold and clear October Saturday, but weather a bit too good to challenge our map and compass skills...We looked at a number of techniques and strategies for navigating our way in the hills. In the morning we mainly looked at ground features, timings and judging distances. In the afternoon we looked more at micro-navigation, using a compass and counting paces.

Here's something you can try to hone your ability to walk on a straight bearing. Find a large flat moorland area. Put your bag down. Walk an equilateral triangle by pacing 100m on due N, then 100m on 120 degrees, then 100m on 240. You should now be back at your bag (unless someone's nicked it). If you are bang on, try 200m.

A request, found written on a piece of wood in a peat bog at Vindolanda Roman Fort reads: "The comrades have no beer, which I ask that you order to be sent."

The Romans arrived in Britain they found us drinking beer and soon got a taste for it themselves. If there was a shortage there would be mutiny. It didn't have any hops in it, so didn't travel well or keep long. I don't suppose it needed to...

Two thousand years later and we are still drinking beer in the North of England. Whether it's from a long established brewery or one of the fashionable micro-breweries that have just popped up, there is some fantastic beer around.

At the end of a day walking the Coast to Coast you deserve a drink. Mine's a beer.

On a recent trip I tried to drink a different local beer each night.

Alf Wainwright wasn't a big drinker himself. He'd sometimes have a half at the end of a day of Lakeland fell walking, but more often he'd prefer a cup of tea. His Pennine Way guide promised a free beer if you made it to the Border Hotel in Kirk Yetholm (which cost him thousands).

All together it's a Coast to Coast walk but each day it is a Pub to Pub walk. So here are the beers I came across on my walk.

St BeesWolf Warrior
Brewed by Stringers
ABV 3.5%

Blonde
Pete's rating: ****

A nice blonde to start things off. I drank mine in the sunshine on the benches at the front of the Manor Inn thinking about the great walking adventure to come. The name refers to the translation of Ulverston, where the brewery is based. It derives from the Old Norse "Ulfarr" meaning "Wolf Warrior".

Another blonde and another refreshing brew. The "Lakeland water" doesn't come out of Ullswater as the lake was prevented from becoming a reservoir in the sixties. Ullswater is probably named after the Norse god Ulfr which also means Wolf (as above).GlenriddingCocker Hoop
Jennings
ABV 4.2%
Golden
Pete's rating: ****

A golden ale, bit stronger than the other beers so far and you can really taste the hops. Cocker Hoop is named after the old custom of removing the cock (spigot) from a barrel and resting it on the hoop of the cask.

ShapRed Barn
Tirril
ABV 4.4%
Ruby
Pete's rating: *****

Absolutely delicious. Or maybe it was the 10 hours I spent on my feet walking over Kidsty Pike, beside Haweswater and across to Shap. Either way the best beer so far when I tried it in the Kings Arms.

Only beer on tap in the Keld Lodge was Black Sheep so I had to wait to the next day, at lunch in the Kings Head, to get another different brew. And the Black Sheep brewery have branched out and made a few other brews. This golden ale one is very easily quaffable. Scumptious!

The other Yorkshire classic. The Ship Inn was close to the B&B. Talking to the Landlord he told us he still operates as a profitable wet pub (meaning no food is served). The key, he said, is good beer.Inglby CrossAlvertune
Wall's Brewery
ABV 3.8%
Pale Ale
Pete's rating: ***

Stood at the bar in the Bluebell Inn this almost luminous lime green pump clip catches your eye. Wall's Brewery are not far away in Northallerton. But although drinkable enough, it didn't make the ground shake for me...

The Lion Inn is an old pub. It's easy to imagine miners walking in along the same track as us after a hard day mining and coming in here for a beer. The building has been here since about the 1550s. In about 1827 Robert Theakston started brewing, in North Yorkshire, and one of his first brews will have been a bitter. A few years later Ironstone was found in the Cleveland Hills and massive mining and quarrying began. This led to the rapid growth of nearby Middlesbourgh. And it's been a gritty, industrial, ugly place ever since. Blakey ridge on the other hand is a beautiful wide open heather moor. In the Lion Inn, to go with your beer, you'll get large portions of no nonsense food served with caustic Yorkshire wit.

GromontStrong Arm
Camerons
ABV 4.0%
Ruby
Pete's rating: *****

Another five stars. But then I'm biased towards the ruby ones... Camerons are another longstanding North East brewery, based in Hartlepool and established in 1863. Strongarm, a terrific beer, a great name and a nice strong red dragon on the front. I drank mine in the sunshine outside the Station Tavern watching a steam train. What more could a man want?

AW had spent thousands on the bar tab at the Border Hotel for Pennine Way completers. He finishes the Coast to Coast book by saying "buy your own beer, I'm skint!". And it seems fitting to buy a Wainwright. Thwaites are cashing in on the Wainwright fans, and they are based in Blackburn, Wainwright's home town. But the beer, although pleasant and drinkable enough, isn't quite as good as it could be. Maybe it's because it's traveled a bit too far. Never mind that though, we've just walked across England! Get another in...

I offer guided walks and walking holidays in Northumberland, the Pennines, the Lake District, Scotland and further afield.

I'm always keen for outdoor adventures to help people learn the skills to explore! My particular focus is mountain skills such as navigating with a map and compass and wild camping for expeditions.

Wainwright was, I think we've established, a traditionalist. It's perhaps not surprising then that his great masterpiece of a walk is steeped in tradition. On day 12 you have the best one, Fat Betty, but don't miss:

Dipping your boot in the sea.

First thing at St Bees is to dip your boot in the sea. It should be one boot in the Irish Sea and the other in the North Sea. Be clear, the sea is a splashy salty thing with waves. Rock pools or wet sand don't count. If the tide is out, diddums, you're on a walking holiday, walk!

Collecting a pebble.

You must pick up a pebble in St Bees to skim into the sea at Robin Hood's Bay. A pebble is roughly the size of a scone. Anything smaller than a pea definitely doesn't count. You have to carry the pebble yourself the whole way. Not in your "baggage transfer", on your person. If you lose your pebble there are no ifs and no buts, you must return to St Bees, get another one, and start the walk again.

Fat Betty

This is a squat white-painted memorial cross. No one knows why it's there or why the tradition for travellers to exchange treats arose. But it did and it's tradition. Give up a snack and take one in exchange. There is no equivalent value system but there ought to be. Use this as a guide...

For most of the way today, the Coast to Coast joins the path of the Cleveland way. Consequently the path is well maintained and the sign posting is good.

This is because the Cleveland Way is a national trail. This status comes with a pot of money to keep the thing in good order.

The Coast to Coast is not a national trail and does not have any extra funding beyond each council or national park's normal spending on footpath maintenance.

But the route is probably the most popular long distance walk in England with something like 10,000 walkers each year. So why doesn't it have national trail status?

The reason probably lies with Wainwright.

"I am beginning to have second thoughts about "official" footpaths. I am not now at all sure they are wholly to be commended." He laments in his personal notes in the Coast to Coast guide. His objection was that official routes quickly become "a too popular parade" and "on some you don't need a map: just follow the trail of empty cans and orange peel."

Perhaps it is because of this stated distain for officialdom that the route avoids it's official status. Indeed, Wainwright was proud of sticking to existing footpaths and access land. Although unbeknownst to him he commited trespass many times.

The route will remain without National Trail status for the foreseeable future. And maybe it's a good thing. To be truly following Wainwright's advice you should plan your own Coast to Coast route with maps crossing the UK wherever you fancy.

"I want to encourage in others the ambition to devise with the aid of maps their own cross-country marathons and not be merely followers of other people's routes: there is no end to the possibilities for originality and initiative."

I offer guided walks and walking holidays in Northumberland, the Pennines, the Lake District, Scotland and further afield.

I'm always keen for outdoor adventures to help people learn the skills to explore! My particular focus is mountain skills such as navigating with a map and compass and wild camping for expeditions.

"To walkers who like high places and rough terrain, this will seem like the dullest part of the whole walk," says AW ever the salesman of his own route. "Those who believe the earth is flat will be mightily encouraged by this section."

It's a slog, fair enough, but there are reasons to be cheerful.

Reason 1: Danby Wyske

AW disparages this twee village as, "less attractive than it's name," and a low point not just in elevation. He's being an old grump again. It's a picturesque place with a fantastic pub: The White Swan. (Incidently, surely it is only worth noting the colour if it is unusual. So either The Black Swan or The Swan. Is it just me?)

The atmosphere of the pub is like someone's cosy front room and they sell good beer and ice cream.

Reason 2: Fake Owls

A farmer has decorated a fence with fake plastic owls, skulls and rats. As you cross the stile a sensor is activated that produces a fake "twit twoo" from a speaker. Kudos to the farmer!

Reason 3: Refreshments.

Don't overdo the ice creams at Danby as at Moor House Farm they've left an honesty box with drinks, flapjacks, choc ices and cornettos. It's like the eighties never ended.

Reason 4: Crossings.

During the day you cross the River Swale and the River Wyske. You cross the East Coast mainline and the Middlesbrough branch line (without a bridge) and the A19. For crossing the dual carriageway you need Speed, Patience or Courage (choose two). Either way adrenaline will flow.

I offer guided walks and walking holidays in Northumberland, the Pennines, the Lake District, Scotland and further afield.

I'm always keen for outdoor adventures to help people learn the skills to explore! My particular focus is mountain skills such as navigating with a map and compass and wild camping for expeditions.

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Testimonials

Pete you were an astonishing leader, full of good cheer and encouragement and support. I felt really safe in your hands which is key to me. A huge thank you for giving us such a great holiday. You are a great and gifted leader - and I would be really happy to go on another of your walks.
- Belinda, Cumbria